Radiocarbon dates from midden sites in the lower Darling River area of western New South Wales

Abstract

AbstractSeventy two of the 88 radiocarbon determinations available for archaeological sites and the sediments associated with the Darling River, its anabranches and associated lakes between Wilcannia and the Murray River in western NSW, are on shell samples collected from middens. The geographic distribution of the dated sites reflects the past hydrology of the region and distribution of preservational sediments in the area as well as past human use of the region.The earliest evidence for human use of the lakes is from a series of middens at Lake Tandou which are dated to about 27,000 years BP but the lack of older sites may simply reflect the lack of exposure normally provided by active dune formation. All of the Pleistocene shell middens are associated with an ancestral Darling River course which was activated some time before 36,000 years ago and is now represented by anabranches of the present river channel. Holocene shell middens between Wilcannia and the Murray River are all associated with the present Darling River channel which formed sometime between 9,000 and 7,000 years ago. These dates when taken in conjunction with the radiocarbon dates on shell middens from the Willandra area show that there has been an almost continuous use of aquatic resources in the Murray‐Darling Basin since about 36,000 years BP. When radiocarbon dates on charcoal from other archaeological sites in the area are added to this sequence the discontinuities in the shell date sequence are filled. This indicates that there has been a continuous human presence in the Murray‐Darling Basin since this time.